Every week I write my sermon and deliver it. Unfortunately sermons are monologues.
I hope with this new website to be able to make my sermons into a dialogue. So please feel free to comment.
What resonated with you? Where do you disagree? How does the scripture passage speak to you?
What does the sermon say to you?


Children’s Tomorrow

Posted on Sunday 24 August 2008

August 24, 2008

Exodus 1:8 – 2:10

 

            We jump back into the Old Testament this morning.  Moving away from the family dramas of Genesis, we begin the story of the Exodus.  Genesis ends with Jacob’s whole family settling in Egypt to live through a time of severe drought.  Because of God’s blessings and Joseph’s position in the government of Egypt, the family is able to prosper there.  The story picks up again four hundred years later as the family has now grown into a people… a people that never left Egypt.  Listen for the Word of God as it speaks to you this morning from the book of Exodus.

            READ Exodus 1:8 – 2:10 (more…)

jedithom @ 8:13 am
Filed under: Sermon
Defiled

Posted on Sunday 17 August 2008

August 17, 2008

Matthew 15:10-28

 

            This morning we take our sermon cue from the gospel according to Matthew.  As we pick up the story some Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem have challenged Jesus with the question, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders?  For they do not wash their hands before they eat.”  The teaching from Jesus that follows takes the question of food and purification traditions and rips it wide open to expose the ethic of how we ourselves deem what is acceptable or unacceptable to God… what is clean and what is unclean.  Taking the ethic to a deeper level, Jesus is then accosted by a Canaanite woman who asks for mercy for her daughter.  Listen for the Word of God as it speaks to you this morning from the gospel of Matthew.

            READ Matthew 15:10-28 (more…)

jedithom @ 7:52 am
Filed under: Sermon
Same Old Same Old

Posted on Sunday 10 August 2008

August 10, 2008

Genesis 37

 

            We’re staying with the Genesis family drama this morning.  In this chapter, Jacob is now the Dad with the favorite kid, Joseph.  And his favoritism is not surprisingly causing problems with the other sons especially as Joseph starts to have these dreams.  Because of what we’re going to do first with this story, I invite you to open up your pew Bibles and read along.  Listen for the Word of God as it speaks to you this morning from the book of Genesis.

            READ Genesis 37 (more…)

jedithom @ 8:12 am
Filed under: Sermon
Wrestling with God

Posted on Sunday 3 August 2008

August 3, 2008

Genesis 32:22-32

 

            This morning we return to Genesis and the story of Jacob.  When we last left Jacob he had just stolen the blessing that had rightfully belonged to his brother Esau by tricking… with the help of his mother… his old blind father, Isaac.  To escape from his brother’s anger and the threat to murder him once their father Isaac died, Jacob fled to his uncle Laban’s on the excuse that he shouldn’t marry a foreign woman, but a woman of his own people.  In the story we skipped over last Sunday, his uncle out tricked the trickster and Jacob had to marry both Leah and Rachel.  Now that he has fallen out of favor with his uncle, Jacob must return home and face his brother.  That is where our reading picks up for this morning.  It is the night before and Jacob is alone having sent everyone else on ahead.  Listen for the Word of God as it speaks to you this morning from the book of Genesis.

            READ Genesis 32:22-32 (more…)

jedithom @ 8:21 am
Filed under: Sermon
Like the Kingdom of Heaven

Posted on Sunday 27 July 2008

July 27, 2008

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

 

This morning we turn away and take a bit of a break from the stories in Genesis and hear instead a few words from the gospel of Matthew.  The writer of Matthew likes to group like items together in his gospel.  So there is one section where all of Jesus’ practical daily teachings are gathered together and here in chapter 13, Matthew collects together many of Jesus’ parables.  This morning our reading concentrates on parables concerning the Kingdom of God.  Listen for the Word of God as it speaks to you this morning from the gospel according to Matthew.

READ Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 (more…)

jedithom @ 8:13 am
Filed under: Sermon
Bless Me, Me Also, Father!

Posted on Sunday 20 July 2008

July 20, 2008

Genesis 26:34 – 28:9

 

            Last Sunday as we began the Esau/Jacob story cycle in Genesis, I left you with the question, “Can Christ love what God hates.”  Now that may seem like a strange question to ask, but how we approach that question effects how we live out our own faith… our answer to the question, “Can Christ love what God hates” effects the theology of our hearts and our imaginations… it defines for us the character of God and as people of faith that character reflects back on us… we who were made in the image of God.  In the Psalm this morning, there was no hesitation from our Psalmist in his desire that God would kill the wicked.  There is no prayer here for enemies to redeemed.  The Psalmist boasted of his hate for those who hate God… and who in turn he assumes that God hates.  But… with the cross is that understanding no longer an option for us who were called in Christ?  Can we hate those who hate God… can we even speak of those whom God hates in the light of Christ’s reconciling sacrifice made in love?  Does the cross of Christ cover the sin of some, but not others… those whom God hates?  It’s a tough question because we all know that we will all stand before God and be held accountable.  To use the words of Paul… “Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister?  Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister?  For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.” 

However, last week we saw how in scripture, both the prophet Malachi and Paul state that God loved Jacob, but hated Esau.  It’s there in black and white… twice.  And it was not because of what Esau did… God’s hatred for Esau did not develop over the passage of time in Esau’s life as the stench of his sin rose toward God.  In his letter to the Romans, Paul makes a point that God’s choice of Jacob over Esau happened while the two were still in the womb.  Esau was born under the shadow of God’s rejection.  Take a minute and use your imagination… and put yourself in Esau’s shoes… how does it feel to be born under the shadow of God’s rejection?  Can you even imagine such a thing?   

I look at this family in Genesis and I think that Isaac’s love for his son must have been Esau’s only relief.  God hates Esau, but his father loves him all the same.  Still it’s not enough to protect him is it?  Jacob, God’s chosen… the one whom God loved… swindles Esau’s birthright from him over a bowl of soup… taking from Esau his guarantee for his social position in life… his inheritance.  In our reading this morning, the bitterness of Esau’s life cannot be contained as once again he is cheated out of what is rightfully his.  Listen for the Word of God as it speaks to you this morning from the book of Genesis.

READ Genesis 26:34 – 28:9 (more…)

jedithom @ 8:17 am
Filed under: Sermon
Birthright

Posted on Sunday 13 July 2008

July 13, 2007

Genesis 25:19-34

 

            This morning we return to Genesis and the first story about Isaac’s boys Jacob and Esau.  Like the stories of the possible sacrifice of Isaac and the sending away of Ishmael from a few weeks ago, there is more to this story… or I guess you could say that there are more questions within this story than we are used to asking.  Listen for the Word of God as it speaks to you this morning from Genesis.

            READ Genesis 25:19-34 (more…)

jedithom @ 8:47 am
Filed under: Sermon
Vindicated Wisdom

Posted on Sunday 6 July 2008

July 6, 2008

Romans 7:14-23

 

            On this weekend when we celebrate words like “independence” and “freedom”, Paul, in his letter to the church in Rome, keeps us mindful that the meaning of these words depends so much on what we do with them… how they find life in our actions.  Listen for the word of God as it speaks to you this morning from Romans.

            READ Romans 7:14-23 (more…)

jedithom @ 8:15 am
Filed under: Sermon
Where Is The Lamb for a Burnt Offering?

Posted on Sunday 29 June 2008

June 29, 2008

Genesis 22:1-14

 

            Last Sunday we looked at the difficult story of Ishmael and Hagar being sent out into the wilderness to ensure that that boy… that son of a slave… would not inherit along with Isaac.  This Sunday we have an equally difficult story as Abraham and Isaac go off together to a mountain to offer a sacrifice to God.  Listen for the Word of God as it speaks to you this morning from the book of Genesis.

            READ Genesis 22:1-14 (more…)

jedithom @ 11:06 am
Filed under: Sermon
The Question of Ishmael

Posted on Sunday 22 June 2008

June 22, 2008

Genesis 21:8-21

 

            Our scripture lesson this morning is a story of Abraham from Genesis.  Although many of you are most likely familiar with the story of Abraham’s first son Ishmael, it is nevertheless necessary remind ourselves of his whole story before we read about how his story ends.  Ishmael was a child born somewhat out of impatience (at least that’s how it is often characterized), but also out of trying to be faithful to God’s promises.  God had promised Sarah and Abraham a son, but as the years went by and a child was not conceived, Sarah decided it was time to give God a hand.  So she went to Abraham and offered him her Egyptian slave, Hagar, so that she might have a child through her.  And Ishmael was born.  Unfortunately for Ishmael, he was not the son that God had promised, nor would he be accepted as a substitute for that promised son. When Sarah finally did have the promised son, Isaac, Ishmael not only became an embarrassment and a focus of hatred for Sarah, but because of societal rules, he became an unwitting threat to the young Isaac.  And that’s where our reading picks up for this morning.  Listen for the Word of God as it speaks to you today through the book of Genesis.

            READ Genesis 21:8-21 (more…)

jedithom @ 12:00 pm
Filed under: Sermon